As a fragile ceasefire pauses the Israel-Iran conflict, U.S. regulators and financial services industry leaders are sounding the alarm over an increased risk of cyberattacks targeting U.S. financial institutions. The warning comes as President Donald Trump — speaking at a White House press conference on June 27 — declined to rule out a second round… Read More >>
CAT System Comes Under New Scrutiny
The Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) had a controversial path on the way to becoming a key weapon of U.S. market regulators in their fight against the manipulation of financial markets and other abuses that leave an electronic trail. But it looks as if the CAT surveillance system might be on a challenging path again, as… Read More >>
LDA Technologies Device Targets Data & Record-Keeping Woes
LDA Technologies, a developer of advanced ultra-low latency integrated circuits and network solutions for capital markets, has launched NeoTap X, a high-performance hardware solution that can be applied to trade monitoring, compliance reporting, advanced analytics, and optimizing network performance, officials say. The timestamping and tap aggregation features of NeoTap X are intended to help firms… Read More >>
SEC Quietly Approves Cost Savings for the CAT System
It’s been a while since I wrote about the ambitious and controversial big data, U.S. securities transaction monitoring project known as the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT), which has been helping regulators FINRA and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) monitor U.S. equity and options markets, exchanges, participants, transactions, and more. CAT issues have receded as… Read More >>
ACA Group Acquires FINOP Consulting
Governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) solutions provider ACA Group hopes to bolster the FINRA and SEC compliance services it offers to broker-dealers via the acquisition of FINOP Consulting, an outsourcer for broker-dealers, officials say. Officials declined to provide the financial terms of the acquisition. FINOP Consulting offers financial operations services “that ensure a broker-dealer’s financial… Read More >>
Firms Need to Prepare for Sec Lending Reporting
(Last year, the SEC approved Rule 10c-1a, intended to bring new transparency to securities lending transactions via reporting and dissemination requirements. Earlier this year, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) proposed a new facility allowing covered securities loan transactions to be reported to the self-regulatory organization (SRO) for U.S. broker-dealers. The proposed system, the Securities… Read More >>
FINRA Explores Remote Inspections via Pilot Program
Nearly one-quarter or 22 percent of FINRA member firms have volunteered to participate in a pilot program that would allow them to complete their inspection obligations “without an on-site visit” from a FINRA official, according to the self-regulatory organization (SRO) for U.S. broker-dealers. FINRA notes that 741 firms are participating in the initial pilot, and… Read More >>
Global Relay Links to OpenAI’s ChatGPT API
Global Relay, a provider of communications compliance solutions, is embracing a generative artificial intelligence (A.I.) technology provider to help its financial services clients, officials say. For instance, the self-regulatory organization (SRO) Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has requirements for overseeing A.I. chatbot communications, “mandating that AI-driven communications must adhere to the same supervision, content, and… Read More >>
UBS Securities Hit With Another FINRA Fine
UBS Securities, a subsidiary of the world’s largest private bank, is in trouble with FINRA, the brokerage industry’s self-regulatory organization (SRO). It’s not the first time. From the regulatory authority’s customary Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC), FINRA alleges: “From September 2015 through January 2019, UBS-S published inaccurate monthly statistics regarding execution of covered… Read More >>
FINRA Fines Two Crowdfunding Portals
FINRA is taking aim at two companies known for crowdfunding. First, a definition of crowdfunding, courtesy of Investopedia: “Crowdfunding is the use of small amounts of capital from a large number of individuals to finance a new business venture. Crowdfunding makes use of … social media and crowdfunding websites to bring investors and entrepreneurs together,… Read More >>
